Insanity 3
by Super Ninja Cupcakes
Summary: Back to insanity! in this book fun is evident, but danger is inevitable... the herd is forced out of the valley by an old enimy... T for cursing, violence, rude humor, tobacco and alcohole refferance... not like the real world, this is strictly ice age.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Damn it!

Buck came back a week later claiming that he- and I quote, "Forgot something he had to do." and we ended up going ice-skating together. Not just him and me. Soph came too, she had to, and I quote, "Keep an eye on that dude."

"Hey, Bumble Bee! Check me out!" I did a fancy move with my weasel spine. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"Yeah, Now watch me trump you." she did a move ten-times better than mine. "Neater huh, Red?"

"Yeah whatever-" my sentence was cut short by Buck yelling and carrying on. "Easy tiger, you'll hurt yourself!" I warned.

"Yeah, whatev-" his sentence was cut short by the ice cracking under Sophie's feet.

"Shit!" I yelled, grabbing Sophie by the hand. I got her just in time.

Buck skidded to a stop next to us and sighed in relief. "Wow, good thing she caught you. You almost _died._" he grinned and leaned on his knife.

Sophie and I gasped at the same time and glared at Buck.

"What?" he shrugged.

I woke up on the ground, next to a cave of some kind, and Buck's face awkwardly close to mine. "Damn it, Buck!" I yelled. Buck popped up and looked around. I smacked him in the back of the head, "Where the hell are we?" oh, I was pissed.

"Ouch! Well how the hell should I know?" he snapped. Then he continued looking around. "We're right next to the Chasm of Death." he stated. "Wait, why did your eyes get red and your tail get all bushy?"

"I'm one sixth mongoose… How _did_ we avoid this place last time I was here?" I asked, freaked out a little that I couldn't use my amulet… in fact, I couldn't _find_ the damn thing! Oh we were screwed beyond hell! …also, I had no idea why I'd said that mongoose thing, Ray did say he'd programmed good excuses to questions into my noggin, maybe that's it.

"I honestly have no idea." Buck answered.

"Hey, what's all the yelling about?" Sophie groaned, appearing out of a bush with burs and scratches all over her. "looking for these?" she held up the magic necklace and Buck's knife.

"Forget that! What about you?" I ran over to her and told her to sit down. "We've got to get you fixed up, right now."

"Damn. We need to get her into some cave or something." Buck stated.

"Why?" I asked, still irritated with him.

"It looks like rain, her wounds could get infected." Buck explained.

"Okay, let's get her someplace else then," I helped Sophie up and whispered to her, "We're really in the doghouse now, aren't we?"

**(Author's note: Sorry this chapter was a midget, I'll try harder in the next few chapters!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Scared? Of What?

Later when we'd gotten Sophie into a cave, not too far from the Chasm of Death, it had been raining pretty hard. Thunder and lightning, plus Rudy's loud footsteps, made it hard for me to work on Sophie's wounds, but I managed.

"How ya feeling Soph?" I asked, hissing at the leaves set over three large scratches on her right leg.

"Better, good call using honey on the scratches." Sophie answered.

"Well, I _did_ learn from the best." I answered.

"Thanks." Buck and Sophie said at the same time.

"Thanks." Sophie repeated lamely.

Buck shrugged and continued carving something out of a big chunk of wood. "Hey Buck, what are ya doing? It's warmer over here." I said; Buck was over at the back of the cave.

"I'm comfy here, thanks." he answered.

"Would it change your mind if Sophie and I could sing?" I asked. "Come on, it must be cold over there, and the fire's warm over here." I insisted.

"Alright, alright, you've got me." he came over and sat down close to me. Sophie chuckled when she saw me blush. I looked at her like, "Shut it!"

"Well Bumble Bee, how about it? Feel like singing?" I asked.

"Sure, which one?" she suddenly grinned slyly, and then whispered the name to me.

"No! Why?" I said out loud.

"Come on!" she whispered, "He won't know who we're talking about! He's loony!"

"Is not!" I said out loud, turning bright red once I saw Buck's WTF face. "Okay fine!" I said finally.

"Okay, let's sing it." Sophie clapped (even though she couldn't jump up and down like normal).

"_Untouchable like a distant diamond sky-"_

Sophie and I had barely gotten past the first line of the song, when thunder crashed, and Buck jumped three feet in the air and yelped.

Sophie started laughing her head off, full-on cracking up. Once silence fell, Buck sat back up and took his hands from over his head.

"Ah hush your mouth!" I snapped. Buck looked angry and very embarrassed.

"Ah, I'm sorry Buck, I just didn't know you were afraid-" Sophie was cut of by Buck's irritated voice.

"Afraid? Afraid of what? Who, me? No. I was just startled is all."

I smiled, "Yeah, and bee's sure _startle_ Sophie, don't they Soph?"

"Ah hush your mouth!" she repeated me.

"Well then…" Buck got our attention, "On a new subject, you two were singing a song?"

"Right, jinx!" we said at the same time, Sophie slapped my knee, but I couldn't slap hers, it was damaged.

"Hey! No fair!"

"Hush up and sing the song would ya?"

"_Untouchable like a distant diamond sky,_

_I'm reaching out, and I just can't tell you why_

_I'm caught up in you; I'm caught up in you_

_Untouchable burning brighter than the sun_

_And when you're close I feel like coming undone_

_In the middle of the knight when I'm in this dream_

_It's like a million little stars spelling out your name_

_You've gotta come on, come on_

_Say that we'll be together _

_Come on, come on _

_Little taste of heaven-"_

The lightning flashed, "Get ready Buck." I warned, then I counted off the seconds 'till thunder on my fingers, "Three, two, one." thunder crashed, much louder than I'd expected. Buck jumped again, this time landing on me.

"Hmmm, you've got pretty eyes." Buck said grinning, his face entirely too close to mine.

"Flatterer," I answered lamely. "Now good sir," I smiled, "GET OFF OF ME!" he jumped once again, this time off of me. "Thank you." I sat up and dusted myself off theatrically.

Sophie started cracking up again, and Buck turned red. All I did was smile and say, "Flatterer, shameless flatterer, that one."

"I feel like dancing in the rain all of a sudden," Sophie grinned slyly at Buck, "And what about _you_ Buckminster? Care to join us?"

Buck looked uncomfortable, "Well…"

"Sophia, a word dear." I said sourly, "Outside." I got up and lead her to the outside of the cave, where we conversed under a big leaf.

"Why are you doing that to poor Buck?" I asked, sounding whiney.

"I thought he was fearless?" Sophie said meanly. "He comes off that way anyhow…"

"Well ask anybody if _you_ come of as anorexic or bulimic and they'll tell you no won't they?" I retaliated, "And ask anybody if _I_ come off as being a girly girl, they'll tell you yes won't they? Well I'm not!"

"Come on, all I'm trying to do is help the poor loon." Sophie sounded defensive, "If we get him out here he'll be less afraid, especially since you're out here with him." she was silent for a minute, "Listen, if you're in love with captain Ahab here, then let me-"

"Fine, work your Sophie magic and get him out here," I said irritably.

"Okay, I'll go inside and tell him to come out, you stay outside and act like you're having a good old time." Sophie instructed.

"Sounds like a plan." _Not a plan, I'll spy, that's what I'll do._

Sophie went back inside and talked to Buck, I overheard the whole conversation from right outside of the cave.

Sophie: So what are you carving?

Buck: Rudy.

Sophie: Why ya carving a dinosaur?

Buck: I carve whatever it is I'm thinking about.

Sophie: I would think you'd be carving Suzan if that's the case.

I smacked my forehead and peaked just in time to see Buck's blush.

Buck: You waned me to go outside?

Sophie: Yes, I bet if you did, Suzy-

"Hey Sophie!" I called, wanting their conversation to end. I entered the cave so to end it properly. "What's the holdup? Don't bother Buck with-"

"I'll go if you'd like me to, Suzy cue, it'll be fun…" his voice trailed off.

"No, it's fine, Buck, I don't exactly feel like getting a cold." I sat down next to him. "We should get to sleep anyways, we've got some ways to go tomorrow." I laid down where I was sitting, Sophie did the same.

"Okay, you two get some shut-eye, I'll keep watch." Buck Stated, sitting between us, he regained his confidence and well known insanity.

"Goodnight sis," I said aloud, "Goodnight Buck."

"Goodnight sis, Goodnight Buck." Sophie repeated.

"Night Suzy cue, night Sophie." Buck answered.

"Oh, Sophie, can't forget the prayers can we?" I suddenly remembered.

"Yeah, can't forget those." we both sat up on our knees and folded our hands.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I shall die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take. God bless us all, and make us good. God bless, Buck, Sophie, Ray, Sid, Manny, Ellie, Peaches, Diego Crash and Eddie, mama Rose, Zeke, and my family with you, Amen." I was the one to recite the prayer tonight, we alternated between the two of us.

I could not sleep, I could just sit there with my eyes closed, pretending to sleep. It sure as hell pays off that I'm good at that, cause I felt somebody eyeballing me until Sophie abruptly stated, "She's Pretty while she sleeps huh Buckminster?" and Buck gasped.

I grunted and shifted positions to where I could watch out of the corner of my eye without them seeing. "Yeah, kind of."

"Do you like her?" Sophie asked.

"Pardon me for answering a question with a question," Buck sounded the slightest bit irritated. "but why aren't you asleep?"

"Insomnia, now answer me." Sophie said lamely.

"Here's your answer: Go to sleep." Buck said, then looked away from Sophie, "Sorry, but I'm just as tired as you, and we have a chasm to cross tomorrow."

Sophie said goodnight once more and fell asleep, after that, I had a worse time falling asleep. My worst night of sleep in years.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Big Mouth

"So, this is the Chasm you were talking about?" Sophie asked. It was a dreadfully humid morning, and there were a few chicken-like egg eating dinos around, I recognized them from books and the movies.

"Yep, this is it. Remember not to breathe while you're in there or you'll die." Buck warned, leading us onto the rib cage.

"Alright so, are you coming with us?" Sophie asked, staying planted on the ledge.

"Nope, I'll be the engineer, in the case of anything going wrong, I'll be the one to fix it." Buck explained, "Madame," he gestured us on.

We ran into some, "technical difficulties" about half way through.

"Okay so why can't we breathe this stuff again?" Sophie's voice was high like a chipmunk, and she was giggling.

"Damn it, Sophie!" I said aloud. "A crap!" I started laughing and howling along with Sophie.

"Is this it? Squeaky high voices? Ha, ha, ha ha ha!" she started laughing even more, gasping for air.

"Remember rule number one Soph!" I squealed, "Always listen to Buck!" I fell backwards.

"I feel sick!" Sophie yelled, "Guess I'll not have to make myself throw up after all!"

"Hope not! Or I'll have to force-feed you like mama Rose does!" I howled, why was this funny to me? Usually I would smack some sense into that girl for saying such things, and she'd smack me for my counter attack.

"Hold on girls! I'll get you out of there, just don't panic!" Buck yelled from the entrance to the chasm.

"Ha ha ha! We're goanna die!" Sophie hollered.

"Don't worry bumble bee! We'll be okay!" I was lying through my teeth, and through multiple laughs.

Suddenly we started moving again, and Buck was on the vine holding us up. He'd gotten us moving really fast, and Sophie was spilling secrets hysterically.

"I can't stand being a weasel, we're heathens!" she yelped, "My brother is adopted! I'm bulimic! Suzy's in lo-" I cut her off by literally shutting her mouth for her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Shut Up!

"You wanna know what _I _think?" Sophie asked, in a confided whisper.

"No." I answered coldly, "_I _think it best that we all just shut up for a while, words have caused nothing but trouble this trip."

"Word vomit, right?" Sophie was spot-on.

"Pretty much." I said quietly.

"Alright, we are now entering the plates of woe!" Buck announced, swaggering along.

"Know what this reminds me of?" I asked.

"Your first time here?" Buck answered.

"Yeah, the plates fell right out from under our feet." I laughed, witch kind of hurt, seeing as I'd been laughing very hard earlier.

"The _what_ fell from under your _what_?" Sophie sounded scared.

"Ah don't worry, these are stable en-" Buck was cut off by, you guessed it, the plates falling out from under our feet.

"Damn it." I said lamely, but in a comedic way, once we were on the ground.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Coming Home

"What?" Sophie yelled, "You expect us to just jump off of a cliff?"

"Yes." Buck answered shortly, examining his claws.

"Why?" Sophie yelled.

"Because." Buck said, gaining impatience in his voice.

"Sophia, honey, I think he knows what he's doing." I stepped in. Sophie looked at me like, WTF? "Come on," I grabbed her by the hand and ran behind Buck towards the edge of the cliff.

"Stop! You're insane! You caught some of his loony! Please, he's a disturbed sociopath! How do you say, "No way I'm doing this!" in crazy?" Sophie protested, but it was too late, we were off of the cliff and onto a dino.

Sophie was digging her claws into my sides, because her arms were wrapped all the way around my torso (Squishing me by the way). I tried calming her down upon Buck asking me to. He said it was making it hard for him to drive, having a screaming she-weasel behind him, even though the skies were calm and pretty today.

"Suzy cue, would ya calm the bee down? It's hard to keep this guy in control when she's screaming!" Buck told me, then he said we may experience some turbulence.

"Sophie! Sophie! Bumble bee!" I was shaking her but she was still hysterical. "Sophia! Snap out of this right now! I will turn this dinosaur around!" I yelled right in her face.

Buck was looking at me like I was crazy, he sure had a lot of room to talk didn't he?

"Eyes on the sky, hands on the reigns!" I said. Buck immediately looked back at what he was doing, and I kept trying to snap Sophie out of her mass hysteria.

By the time Sophie was calmed down, we had already landed, and Sophie was mad at me for hurling her off of a cliff, and for trying to snap her out of her hysteria.

"We could have been **dead**! We all could have **died**!" Sophie yelled, clinging to a rock near the cave entrance, but she wasn't even all that mad anymore, still just scared out of her wits.

"But did we?" I asked, Sophie didn't seem amused. "No, we didn't. It _was_ fun though right?" I grinned in the same crazy way Buck does.

"Sure, now can we go home?" She asked, trying to stop clinging to the rock, fail.

Suddenly, we heard a blood curdling roar in the distance, something I feared we'd encounter before our journey's end. Rudy.

"Ah, bloody hell!" Buck yelled. "You ladies take cover, I'll buy us some time!" then he was gone, and I was pissed.

"Did he just call us "ladies"? Really?" Sophie asked, immediately regaining her courage and vigor.

"Now there's my bumble bee! Come on, let's help him!" I grabbed her by the arm and grabbed a vine with my other hand, and we swung off to help our favorite deranged hermit.

"You know something Red? I'm getting used to you almost getting us killed!" Sophie yelled enthusiastically. "It's pretty fun!" she laughed as we landed in a tree near where the battle was happening.

"Is that all ya got? Huh? Come and get me you over grown lizard!" we heard Buck yelling in the distance, I ran faster.

"Buck! Buck! We're coming!" I yelled, and I swear I heard Rudy chuckle menacingly.

"NO!" I heard Buck yell, and as we made our way through the foliage, I was growing more and more tense.

When we got through, Rudy was looking at his foot and the knife in front of it with delight.

"No." I said under my breath. Then I did some thing so crazy I can hardly believe I did it to begin with. I ran up a tree and swung on a dark green vine towards the great white monster. When I was on his nose and he was looking me dead in the eye, I said, "Pop goes the weasel!" and bit him on the snout.

Rudy let out a roar that I thought would deafen me permanently, and started running around and squalling, trying to get me off of him.

"Suzy!" Sophie yelled, she was at the top of the same tree as I had climbed to get to Rudy.

"Don't worry about-" I was slung to the side, but all that did on Rudy's account was make me dig my claws deeper into his hard white scales. "Don't worry about me, go see if Buck's okay!" I finished.

Sophie gave me a concerned stare, then a thumbs up, nodded her head, and went to tend to Buck. Speaking of our favorite loon, he was okay, better than okay, helping me! Yeah, I know, what a come-back-kid!

"Sophie! Help me with this vine!" Buck yelled, and before I knew it, Rudy was tied up, and we were out of there.

Lucky for us, one of those long-necked dinos was near by, and Sophie was able to, by her Sophie magic, get the long-neck over to the ledge long enough for us to climb up. We got up and said our goodbyes with buck, who evidently had to leave and do something that I didn't listen to. We didn't want to make things awkward or anything, but we needed a hug in there someplace.

I was still tasting Rudy's blood when we were walking in the cave on our way back to the ice age. Grody.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Really? He's not dead yet? Damn.

Sophie and I were walking around, being casual, no biggie. Until of course you come across a secret meeting between Diego and the bad guy. You heard me! Diego, the bad guy, meeting!

"And that's why Jackal owes me a bushel of apples and I need a lawyer." Sophie finished… don't ask. Anyways I was frozen in shock, not by her story, but by who was right behind her, Diego and, _him_.

I pushed Sophie into the bushes so we could hide. "Shush!" I said, gesturing for her to look.

"Listen, my mind's made up. I won't help you! And if you even try coming near my herd I'll-" Diego was cut off by a sinister chuckle, bone-chilling and intimidating.

"Oh Diego, young, naive Diego. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, I'll get you. And your little family too." Soto circled around Diego in a creepy, threatening fashion, and walked off.

"God Diego, what have you gotten yourself into now?" Diego said to himself.

"Diego!" I screamed out of nowhere. "Why isn't he dead?"

"Suzy! Sophie, what are you two doing here?" Diego looked guilty.

"Answer me pussy cat!" I ordered in a shaky, yet determined voice. "Why is he here, you said he was dead."

"How'd you know that was him?" Diego asked, sneering at my interrogation of his personal affairs.

"You were descriptive! Now answer me!" I yelled.

"Okay! He wasn't dead, just wounded, and he's got Oscar and some other bad Sabers working for him! Je-sus!" Diego was about to cry, I could see it.

"Diego, how could you not tell us?" I asked, almost crying myself.

"I thought it would blow over, but it didn't and now we have to get out of here!" Diego answered.

"You thought." I repeated. "Let's go." I waved him in the direction of our herd's cave.

"Where are we going?" Diego asked.

"Dinotopia."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Assassin

"Jackal!" I called into the fox den.

"Suzanne, I've been expecting you." said a German accent from deep in the hollow void of a home. Since Jackal was who the mob of the ice age called when somebody needed to get got, he had many passages and trap doors and fake-out bedrooms. That way if somebody came in, he'd see him or her before he or she saw him.

"Jackal Daniels, my old friend." I really didn't know him all that well, nor did I want to with how disrespectfully he treated me. Why if I had been in charge of Creation- I wouldn't have included Jackal, we'll leave it at that.

"My sweet Suzy, come in, come, come, first door on the left." Jackal instructed.

I found him lighting what was the ice-age version of a cigarette, basically grass and tobacco stuffed in a few rolled-up and dried leafs. He was sitting at a make-shift table with his feet up, and a low-lit atmosphere made it hard to keep my cool and confident approach. I also had to look good, sexy. The reason for that is, in Jackal's mind, I (and a lot of other girls in the village) am his honey, one of the reasons I wouldn't have included him in Creation. So I just had to primp a little and take a swig of some home-made alcohol to give my breath an edge.

"Jackal! How nice to see you again." I said upon entering.

"Suzy." the red (slightly graying) fox said with a grin. He was obviously sober, well to me anyways, but he had me fooled for a minute. "Hitting the bottle again?"

"No, trying to cut down." I said, in real life I would never drink.

"Good, a good girl should try to stop no?" Jackal took a drag of his smoke and continued, "What can I do for you my darling?"

"You can do me a favor, something that will repay that bushel of apples to Sophie, and we won't have to bring the law into it." I smiled and sat down on the desk in front of him.

"What kind of favor my novia?" Jackal asked, grinning the same as I had.

"I need you to kill a Saber." I said, becoming serious. "His name is Soto. He's got a real messed up scarred face, and he's trying to kill my family." I explained.

"Soto. My old partner, the bastard, hell I'll kill him for free!" Jackal said, taking another drag. "But I wouldn't mind the repayment."

"Do we have a deal?" I asked.

Jackal smiled up at me, "Deal, baby-cakes." he brushed me under the chin, "I can have it done tomorrow night, no questions, he'll just disappear. But you may want get out of town, all of you. Do you have someplace to stay?"

"Yes, we sure do, someplace virtually unable to be found." I answered, "Thank you for your time." I took his cigarette and stubbed it out. "Pleasure doing business with you, Jack."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Love, and Distrust.

"What do you mean 'Soto's back'?" Manny was yelling when I got back to the cave, "I killed him!"

"No, you just jacked-up his face." Diego replied calmly.

"Guys," neither of them paid me any attention.

"If he comes here and tries anything-" Diego interrupted Manny.

"He won't we're getting out of town for a while!"

"Where to? We've got nowhere to go! And another thing-" I was the one to interrupt him now.

"HEY!" I yelled, their jaws were dropped. "I did not drink alcohol, curl my hair, put up with cigarette smoke, and sit on a mob member's desk like a two-dollar-hooker just to come back and see you two fighting! I was called darling, novia, baby-cakes, good girl, Suzanne, damn it! I've got makeup on my butt dude! And I was flirted with by a psychotic Hugh Heffner ass fox! The least you could frickin' do, is pay attention!"

The two guys were staring at me like I was out of my mind, and were all at once, interested in what I had to say.

"Jackal, I hired him to kill Soto." I explained, crossing my arms.

"Oh, I get it, so when's the job getting done?" Diego asked.

"Tomorrow night, so we all need to get to Dinotopia very quickly. That includes Zeke and Sophie." I answered. "Now get the guys and Ellie and Peaches, I'll get Zeke and Sophie."

I knew where to go first, to the Saber territory. I had to find Zeke first so Sophie would have no excuse not to meet him. And another thing, Zeke wouldn't want to listen to me if there was some other weasel chick staying as far away from him as possible. And on top of that, I don't think I could handle any more emotional turmoil today.

I walked up to a Saber from behind and asked him "Excuse me, have you seen-" the saber turned around, revealing his identity, Soto. "Uh, have you seen a Saber by the name of Ezekiel, Zeke?" I asked trembling at the sight of his Scarred and disfigured face.

"No." Soto growled, then mumbled unintelligibly.

"Get outta here!" one big Saber shoved me.

"Hey, lay off 'er Oscar." the one I guessed was Lenny answered. "Runt left about ten minutes ago with a red fox."

"Thanks!" I hopped up and hot-footed it to Jackal's den.

"I don't know anything!" I heard Zeke wail from inside of the den.

"No games! Where's the Saber?" Jackal returned.

I made my way to where the yelling was coming from, deep in the underground abode.

"I don't know anything!" Zeke reiterated. "He just got here a few days ago!" he sobbed, "I don't talk to him!"

"Stop your whimpering and talk to me!" it sounded like Jackal slapped Zeke, who exclaimed in pain and went silent.

I tried not to sound choked up, "Jackal!"

"Suzanne, baby, all the way down the hall, large door, then down the stairs!" Jackal answered.

I ran down the hall and nearly tripped over the stairs.

"Jackal Daniels! What are you doing?" I screamed, Zeke was tied up in the corner, and Jackal was having a smoke.

"Getting information the Jackal way." Jackal answered, beginning to, yet again, yell at Zeke.

"Jack, he is not who you are supposed to go Jackal on! Soto is!" I answered in an irritated yell, then I took a sharp rock and started untying Zeke. "Oh you poor thing, did he hurt you?" I asked Zeke in a motherly tone, the way I did when Crash got hurt that time during fishing.

"I don't know anything I swear!" Zeke ran and curled up in the other corner and started whimpering to himself.

"What is wrong with you? Are you drunk? Did you smoke something? And how did you even get him down here? He's ten times your size!" I yelled, turning redder and redder in the face with every word.

"What? I was just finding out where Soto is!" Jackal yelled back, he had alcohol on his breath.

"Well he's over at Saber territory, I'm taking Zeke out of here with the rest of the family." I said, regaining my cool.

"Suzy cue, stay for a drink eh?" Jackal chuckled, holding up a stone-carved martini glass. I swished my head in Zeke's direction, letting the rest of my body follow, then I helped him up and we began to leave.

"By the way," I took the glass (stone, whatever) from Jackal and drank all that was left in one gulp, "Never call me Suzy cue… unless you wish to look like Soto."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Get Out Of Town, Today.

Only Hours later, we were on the way to Dinotopia for the week. Peaches seemed not to know what was going on at all, just happy to go see uncle Buck again. Sophie begged for me to do something to my hair, because it was horribly messed up. I let her comb it to the point of being strait again, and I put it back in a pony-tail, but that was it.

"So why do we have to leave?" Zeke asked, I realized he had no idea what in bloody new Hampshire was going on.

"Soto's trying to kill us so we have the mafia after him so maybe he'll get other sabers to come after us and by extension, you." I explained, "That's why you need to come."

"Oh I see, he has been telling Diego and me to watch our backs."

We walked through the dark cave, until we saw light, that's when the boys (Crash and Eddie) got excited. They giggled and talked to Peaches and Ellie, taking some (not all) of the tension away. I wondered briefly how the her would react, they hadn't been there for a while. And really, all things considered, Zeke would have a freaking heart attack!

He didn't, thank heavens. When we got there, I was surprised to see... Buck? Sitting on a rock, as if waiting for us. We all walked right out onto the cliff, and I worried the mammoths' weight would be too much for the smallish cliff to sustain. Not to mention the three medium sized weasels, two tiny possums, two pretty big sabers, and one good sized sloth.

"Suzy cue! Sophie! Peaches!" Buck continued saying our names as if it were a great surprise to see us barging in on his tropical "paradise".

"Hey Buck." Sophie answered. I waved, and Peaches smiled.

"What brings you all to this tropical getaway?" Buck grinned.

"Bloodthirsty villains trying to kill us and feed our bodies to the vultures." Peaches said, still grinning like a sweet little angel.

I looked at her like, what the heck are they putting in your orange juice? But then it came to me... "Sid! What have you been telling her?"

"She did the puppy eyes!" Sid whined.

"BTW, using the eyes on Sid, well played." I whispered to Peaches.

"Yup, that happens to me, too." Buck looked like her were pondering the thoughts, "Yeah, the Pineapple sent them for me." he tapped his chin, and snapped out of it, "Oh yeah, well you're more than welcome to stay here, but it has to be literally right here. Because I'm not sure Rodger could hold you or your parents up."

"Thanks Buck." Ellie said, before Manny could start carrying on about his weight.

"No problem, long as you can put up with the dinos. That noise and all." Buck grinned, "Well then, I'm going fishing for supper. Suzy, Sophie, would you two come along? I've trained Rodger so he comes when I call him.

"Flying? No thank you!" Sophie exclaimed, "I can deal with it, but that doesn't mean I _like_ it. Like Diego with swimming."

"Hey, I got over that!" Diego always insisted upon that, but it wasn't true.

"Anyways, I'll go as long as we don't have to fly." Sophie continued.

"Oh, sure. We won't have to fly." I said, winking at Buck as if to say, 'yeah, we're sooo flying!'

"Sure, we'll just park a long-neck up at the cliff." Buck went along with it, "Now lets go, chop-chop, grab a vine."

"What about us?" Crash stepped in.

"Yeah, can we come?" Eddie agreed.

"Oh, sure, the more the merrier!" Buck answered.

I heard a long-neck groan right next to us, Ray would have- OH SHIT WE FORGOT RAY! I screamed in my head.

"Guys! We forgot Ray!" I said aloud.

"It's okay auntie Suzy, uncle Ray said-" Peaches was cut off by a growl in the cave.

I figured it was that damn... whatever's kid or something. _Perfect._ But, _no_! It just _had_ to be him didn't it? Oh yeah, I forgot sabers had that freakin' awesome sense of smell!

"Diego." Soto's voice. A chilling voice like death itself.

"Shit! Peaches, Ellie, EVERYBODY ON THE DINOSAUR!" I screamed. I grabbed the twins, Sophie, and I think Sid (I was scared, I didn't pay any attention) and we all slid down the Dino's back, the others following close behind.

We all ran for it once we got off the dinosaur's back. Buck ran beside me and tried to carry on a conversation, "So I'm guessing that's the guy who doesn't like us?"

"Yes, I should say so!" I answered, nearly getting stepped on by Zeke.

"Well he's all the way up there, and we spooked the dino a good- whoa!" Buck was nearly stepped on by Manny. "We'll get to my tree near the lake of enchantment! This way all!"

Everybody followed, still running for our lives... Contrary to popular belief, Sid can run pretty damn fast when he's scared. So can Zeke, matter-of-fact, despite his tiny build and starved-to-death look.

I'd say we'd been running for about thirty minutes before Diego and Zeke started, quote, "Seeing spots and red blotches" witch is partly why we stopped. The other part would be that we had to mask our scents. Buck instructed each of us on what to rub on ourselves. Fruit, grass, garbage-smelling junk from on tree bark... actually Sid smelled like that to start with. We all already had our own distinct smells. Like how I smelled like citrus, or how Ellie smells like Brittany Spears perfume. So we had to be very careful not to make somebody smell like somebody else, and with the wide variety of stuff, I think we pulled it off.

"Man" *Pant* "I've never seen Soto that angry, not even when Nina died." Zeke said, rubbing pond water on himself.

"I have." Diego Answered. He didn't say anything else, and it got all quiet.

"Hey! Lord of the flames, how about helping us make a fire!" I exclaimed, picking up some sticks, I was already finished dabbing on the honeysuckle.

"Yeah, sure." Sid answered, gathering dried leaves.

Sophie took the sticks from me and said, "Dude, go fishing, have a goo time." She winked. I blushed hard, but smiled and nodded reluctantly.

"Hey Crash, Eddie!" I waved them over, "Ready to fish?" I grinned.

The boys high-fived and exclaimed, "Yeah, Hand-Fishin' with Suzy!"

"C'mon Buck!" Eddie called.

"Alright, alright. Let me check your scents!" Buck swaggered over and smelled the boys, they now smelled like watermelon. Then he smelled me. "Right-o! Come on then, I'll show you all the best place to fish! The lake of enchantment isn't a mile away!"

And so we set off, knowing nothing about what fate had in store for us...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Fishing- Right or Wrong is NOT Important...

"Suzy cue, you cover the left, I'll get the right. Boys, you cover the middle and underwater area." Buck instructed as we started scouting around for fish.

"I found one!" I yell/whispered to Buck, "He's a big 'un!"

"Okay, you all know what to do!" Buck signaled for us to corner the fish.

I'll spare myself and the boys the embarrassment and typing space… it didn't go too well. Crash and Eddie almost got eaten, but did manage to choke the fish, so that helped. After we had about three gigantic fish on our hands, we decided to gather some fruit for me and the other veggies to eat.

I was off on my own, gathering bananas and passion fruits, when I heard the same sinister chuckle I'd heard that morning. I gasped, and froze right there next to the banana tree. _Soto._

"Hello Suzan." Soto's voice turned my bones to liquid.

In an instant I was on the ground. Pinned. Helpless. Trapped.

"Buck!" I yelled.

"Your boyfriend with the patch can't help you now." Soto grinned, making his scars open up slightly. I gagged.

"Patches are a good invention, maybe you should get one!" I said shakily.

"I'll give you a patch!" Soto slowly (PAINFULLY!) scratched three claws over my left ear, I cloud feel them bleeding.

"Go to hell!" I hissed.

"I plan to." Soto smiled wickedly. "Run back and tell your little, _family_ what will become of them."

"I would rather die!" I said coldly.

"Fine, I'll go get that skinny black rat! Or that foul-smelling sloth. Or maybe me and Zeke could recreate some history."

"You sick, vile, loathsome, spawn of Satan!" I spat in his eye.

Soto cried out in anger and threw me against a tree. I could hardly see or hear, it was like I was in a hazy dream. A fever dream, like you have when you're so sick you may die. A dream that is so simple, but you cannot comprehend it to save your life. The dream that takes a moment to fade before you wake up.

It took about what felt like hours -maybe it was!- before I was snapped out of it by voices. Crash, Eddie, and Buck were looking for me. God I hoped I wasn't bleeding anymore. I stood up, feeling like the earth was tilting beneath me. I felt drunk- as if I knew what that felt like to start with.

"Buck!" I groaned. Everything was blurry, but I did manage to see the guys, running towards me in shock and horror. "Soto." I mumbled. Someone picked me up and carried me bridal-style for a bit, then placed me next to a fire.

I heard a voice, who I just knew was Sophie, freaking out and yelling at Buck. All I heard was, "How? ...What happened? ...Don't give me that bullshit!" and Buck saying things like, "Dino must have attacked." and then it all went black.

*LINE*

I don't know how long it was later, but I woke up to sunshine and the smell of honey. "Sophie? Buck?" I choked out, my entire body ached.

"She's awake!" somebody -Crash, I think- yelled excitedly. In an instant the entire population of Texas must've been gathered around me. I groaned once again and touched where Soto had scratched my ear. It had leaf-band-aids all over it, with honey underneath to stop infections.

"Suzy!" Sophie pushed past the others like a bulldozer, "Are you okay? What happened? Was it a Dino? Fish? Did you-" I cut her off.

"Bumble bee! Just, just shut up, please? You're gonna hurt yourself." I rubbed my forehead. "Aw, what a headache."

"What happened?" Sophie reiterated.

"Soto "Happened"! He nearly killed me! He's after us! He has our scent...!" I went on with my gibberish whilst the gang conversed about what it was they needed to do about the, uh... certain doom, so to speak. Diego got all quiet, and Zeke looked ready to cry, or puke, or something!

"Oh this is bad!" Zeke raised his voice.

"Oh you're darned right it's bad!" Manny shouted.

"Daddy what'll happen to us?" I had forgotten about little Peaches.

"I don't know baby." Manny said in defeat. "I don't know."

"We'll be fine, sweetie." Ellie said with her, 'If-you-try-to-tell-her-we're-gonna-die-I'll-kill-you-first!' voice.

"Oh, god." Sid said, mumbling to himself.

"ENOUGH!" I yelled. My head was throbbing, my heart was pounding, and I was so sick of this trash! "Why can't he just leave us alone?" Oh, did I _say_ that instead of thinking it? "I'm going to find this guy and make him wish he were in the bottom of Rudy's stomach!" I took a long stick and a stray rib bone and tied them together, making a decent sphere.

"Suzy, be rational!" Diego insisted.

"Fuck rationality!" I retaliated, "This guy isn't gonna stop until he's stone-cold! And he will be before the day's end!" I found a sharp rock and made Sophie a small knife. "C'mon Soph." I ordered, still trying to get some extra help. Sophie didn't question, she took the knife and began practicing. "Does anybody else want to help?" I was becoming an army general or... an undersized Drama Queen, or, something. "We need all the help we can get!" I encouraged.

"Count me in!" Eddie ran up and began sharpening a small stick.

"Fighting a hungry, pissed off saber? Uh, I'm there!" Crash agreed, fashioning a sling-shot out of an... antler? I don't remember, something like that.

"Buck?" I smiled halfheartedly -and, to be perfectly honest with you, did the puppy eyes- at him.

"Aye." Buck began sharpening his knife with a rock.

"Looks like the five small rodents (well weasels aren't rodents, but still) are going to have to do this alone?" I sighed.

"Is that a hint?" Diego came forward, Zeke following close behind.

"Why yes, yes it is." I grinned.

"Okay, What about you, Manny? Sid?" Sophie inquired.

"I don't know, somebody has to protect the girls." Manny answered.

"I'll go." Sid quipped, as if the were joking, but he came over to claim a weapon, just the same. Pea shooter... hells ya!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Hungry...? Big Time!

"Can we feed you guys first?" Ellie smiled. "Suzy, you've been asleep for like, fifteen hours."

"Sure. Did you guys eat?" I answered.

"Nah, we were all up all night..." Crash trailed off.

"Yeah and we were too scared-" Crash elbowed him, "Ouch! I mean, we were too worried about you to go back for food." Eddie finished.

I giggled, "Well I guess we should eat before we kick some-" I remembered Peaches, "uh... Soto butt?" I reddened.

"Yeah we should." Sophie answered, first time I'd ever seen her excited to eat. That, and the fact I could take a bath made me feel ecstatic. I mean, I stunk, and Sophie needed a meal.

"Well, let's go!" I laughed. "Diego, Sid, Zeke. Why don't y'all come with us?" I smiled sweetly, "You guys can fish, right?"

"I'm OK at fishing." Zeke.

"Not going near water." Diego.

"Couldn't fish to save my life." Sid.

The three said that in unison. Sophie and I giggled. "Will you come anyways?" Sophie did her sad little kit face and voice. "Pweeze?"

"I'll go." Zeke.

"Sure I guess." Diego.

"Sucker for the puppy eyes." Sid. (Blushing)

"Yay!" Sophie jumped and clapped like she always did. "Let's go! It'll be dark soon, and fish don't catch themselves!"

"I agree! Jinx!" The twins said in unison. We all laughed at ourselves, how crazy we all were, and how_ fun_ it really was to be here all together like family. I looked around at the faces of my fellow mammals. If you walked in on us right that minute, you'd think we were all just having family time, and not trying to stay away from an angry saber hell-bent on killing us all for revenge… creepy, I know, but still.

"Okay guys, let's get going!" Sid encouraged, "Peaches, honey, do you remember how to make a fire like uncle Sid showed you?"

"Yeah I remember." Peaches smiled.

"Good, you'll be in charge of the fire until I get back!" the two high-fived. Sid with his hand and Peaches with her trunk.

On the way, Sophie and I sang the whole way there, and Sid joined in as a chorus helper. He'd be great if it weren't for his pitchy-ness. Once we had successfully exhausted every single song we knew, I taught Sophie _A Total Eclipse Of The Heart_. Zeke was the first to tell us how beautifully we sang together, but Buck was the first to agree with him on the subject. Fun... never thought that would be an option huh?

Fishing was cool, it was a hole lot easier to catch something with two hungry-eyed sabers to help. We got enough for all the meat eaters, and got in a prank... let's just say Diego didn't appreciateus, well... pushing him into the uh... he got **very** wet. Let's just say Crash and Eddie got a bright idea... with witch I agreed. We got behind him while he was trying to get a salmon in the shallow part of the lake on a rock, and the twins put their tails -tied together- in front of his hind legs, while Sophie and I pushed him in. Diego was more pissed than scared. He chased us around for a bit until we ran up a tree. After he cooled off, we came down and said we were sorry... Zeke was still laughing when we apologized.

On the way back, Buck told Sophie, the twins, and me to go get some fruits for the mammoths. Sophie and I practiced the new song I taught her, and found some awesome delicious fruits... I didn't even know they existed but they were damn good eatin', according to Sid, who was the first to taste them. I cooked as always, and by the time we were done eating, it was nearing sundown.

*LINE*

We got to scouting a little while after dinner, making sure to use camo-mode. Crash and were wearing shrubs, I hardly recognized them. Sid is just so neutral he'll turn into the color of whatever he happens to be in front of. Sophie had black fur, so it blended in with the surroundings of the night. I also made her get her hair slightly out of her eyes. The sabers were perched in a tree, wearing war paint and some leaves so they could hunker down and blend in. I had on war paint, and my hair was tied back. Buck had on a darker patch... yeah, I didn't know he could change it either. Anyways, we had made modifications to our weapons as well. We all had tool belts with pea shooters, exploding berries, knives, and rope. I, with the help of Crash and Eddie, invented and made them.

Camo-mode did okay until we found Soto sprawled out on the ground in a patch of grass. He had a lot more scratches and blood-stained fur.

"A dinosaur beat us to him?" Sophie shouted, "What the hell man!"

"He may not be dead, I'll go see." Buck suggested. He swaggered over to Soto, picked up a stick, and poked him with it on the nose. And, of course, he just _had_ to still be alive!

Soto jumped up and let out an angry, fearsome roar, letting us know it was fight or flight. Crash and Eddie created a diversion by shooting tiny red berries at Soto through their pea-shooters. Sid used Crash's sling-shot to try and take out Soto's eyes. Buck and I worked on tying him up but he was too strong, Soto jumped up and landed on a patch of grass with a small pinkish fruit on it... OH SNAP! We all backed away, as if Zeke or Sophie were even doing anything to start with, while the arms of the plant came up and grabbed Soto around the ankles and took him into it's mouth... petals... whatever; still not trained in botany. We all held our breath, as if we were in the movie theater waiting for the scary part of a slasher. The plant moved slightly, and then... BAM! out came Soto, his wounds dripping, his face set in horrifying bloody murder, his eyes like stone. He roared like Rudy and tackled Zeke. I ran up... lifted my knife... took a deep breath... jumped... and stabbed. "Aaahhh!" Soto exclaimed in pain, and went limp.

Zeke hurried out from under Soto's body. He had some bad bruises, and a few cuts. I was there, on top of Soto's stone cold dead body, breathing heavily, hot tears welled up in my eyes... my arms fell to my sides, my legs turned to instant jell-o, and I scrambled off of the body. I'd just killed somebody.

Epilogue

Two days, that's how long it had been since we got home from Dinotopia. Sophie and I had totally mastered, _A Total Eclipse Of The Heart_, and Sid could tap out a beat on a rock for us. We were practicing that one for karaoke night, Peaches was flying a kite-like thing the twins made, and the sabers were hunting. The twins decided it would be funny to ambush us with berries and pea-shooters right in the middle of the chorus... yeah I didn't think so. We all got into this big berry fight with each other.

"Hey, guys!" I said, "I know just the armadillo to use this stuff on." I grinned.

"Aw yeah!" Crash high-fived his brother.

(Author's note: Thank you all! I loved writing this! Thank you! ...But the insanity keeps on going! look for insanity 4 on my profile! Same day posting!)


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